Big and tall men’s apparel retailer Destination XL Group Inc. will increase its digital marketing spend during the second half of 2017 as it seeks to attract more online shoppers.
Destination XL, No. 293 in the Internet Retailer 2017 Top 500, reported Thursday that e-commerce accounted for 20.5% of sales for the fiscal second quarter ended July 29, or $24.83 million. That’s up 8.6% from $22.87 million during the same time last year, when e-commerce accounted for 19.4% of overall sales.
With online sales growth outpacing total sales growth, CEO David Levin told analysts the retailer plans to be more aggressive in its pursuit of online shoppers.
“In an effort to leverage our store fleet and expand our digital presence to a greater degree, we’ve made the decision to increase our marketing budget by additional roughly $4 million for the second half with the majority of the incremental spend dedicated to broadening our efforts into social advertising,” he said, according to a transcript from Seeking Alpha.
To drive digital engagement, the retailer launched its mobile app last month. Chief digital officer Sahal Laher said the app is catching on with customers, though he did not give numbers on downloads, and said the hope is that the app will drive both store and online sales.
“We are pleased with the engagement that we’ve experienced with our app and look forward to adding new features, such as geolocation and beacon-based capabilities to better streamline the in-store shopping experience, which we believe will accelerate the adoption rate,” he said. Laher was named chief digital officer in January and is Destination XL’s first executive to hold that title.
Personalizing its digital and mobile promotions is another focus for the remainder of 2017, as is engaging members of DXL’s loyalty program. Laher said loyalty program members account for 90% of the company’s business. The app, which is available on iOS and Android, will be key to drive revenue from those customers.
“The app automates elements of our loyalty program, including a mobile wallet of loyalty rewards,” Laher said. “We envision the DXL men’s apparel app as a platform to engage with shoppers in a personalized manner while offering ease and convenience to shop our entire selection of brands and private-label merchandise.”
For the fiscal second quarter ended July 29, Destination XL reported:
- Net sales of $121.1 million, up 2.7% from $117.9 million during the same time last year.
- A comparable sales gain of 0.1%, compared with 2.4%.
- A net loss of $3.7 million, compared with a $199,000 profit.
For the first six months of fiscal 2017, Destination XL reported:
- Net sales of $228.8 million, up 1.3% from $225.8 million during the same period last year.
- A net loss of $9.8 million, compared with a $413,000 profit.